On Sunday night the San Antonio Spurs beat the Miami Heat 104-87 to win game 5 and the NBA Championship. Miami’s big three are now 2-4 in NBA Finals appearances and the future is uncertain for LeBron James. Will the Heat stay together or will everything slowly fall apart?
One thing is for sure, Shane Battier, 35, will not be there next season. Two months ago he announced that he would be retiring from the game of basketball at the end of the 2013-14 NBA season. He is sticking to his word as he signed a multi-year TV deal with ESPN to be a college basketball analyst next season according to TheBigLead.
Shane Battier: "I gave everything I can to the game."
— Ethan J. Skolnick (@EthanJSkolnick) June 16, 2014
As for the big three, Dwayne Wade, LeBron James and Chris Bosh all have early termination options in their contracts which they can use this offseason. Between the three of them they are pulling in $61.4 million a year via SportsIllustrated. Assuming they all execute their early termination, the Heat will have over $60 million in cap space and their organization will look completely different next season.
There has been a lot of speculation around James heading back to his hometown to once again play for the Cleveland Cavaliers. They would have to open up a good amount of cap space to allow for a max-contract, but if he does opt out of his contract with the Heat, chances are Bosh will do the same. Regardless with superstars such as Carmelo Anthony and Kevin Love also looking to leave their teams this could be a very interesting summer.